Friday 6 April 2012

Not Exactly about Railroading...but I needed Something to Post

Besides my interest in railroading, I am an avid fly fisherman and fly tyer.  I spend most of the summer (5+ days a week) on the river and work on my scale models after the season closed in October, until mid March fairly religiously.  After Reading Week or "spring break" in March, the "bug" usually gets me.  The "bug" is what a friend of mine calls that time of year where the weather starts to warm up and we like to start tying flies and going out and walking along the river looking for fish again.

For those interested, the wild trout and salmon stock on PEI have been in decline for the last while and it's been a few years now since I've seen salmon sitting in the pools in any numbers.  Today however, I was driving over an old wood bridge that happens to be a favorite fishing location for many.  I got out and to see what the water was doing and to my surprise there were at least 15 black salmon (the ones that I could count) sitting under the road bridge waiting to go out to sea.  I couldn't believe it, and when I walked upstream and downstream from the bridge, I found 5 more!

Salmon run in the mid summer or October to spawn.  Most of the salmon run here is in the fall.  The fish that come up then actually hang around for a while, spawn and stay up in the rivers all winter, not eating.  Come the spring they are really thin and have lost several pounds.  They turn a black colour hence the term "black salmon."  Everyone of those fish would have spawned last fall.

Seeing this today was quite a surprise today and hopefully not an isolated incident.

3 comments:

  1. Hi Taylor,

    Just discovered your blog after reading about it on Prince Street Terminal. I like the mix of salmon, prototype and model railroading. Thanks for listing Trackside Treasure in your blog roll, and I hope you stop by often. While I only post once per week (consistent posting schedule since 2008) I also try to keep a variety of topics in play.

    I'm working on a second book on VIA Rail and I will be including lots of Chaleur information.

    Keep up the good work,
    Eric

    ReplyDelete
  2. I never even got your first book Eric, it slipped my mind...if you still have any left can I please purchase one.

    I did manage to get out on opening day (today) and the results are in my most recent post.

    I've been shadowing you for a while now and I really like your blog.
    Thanks,
    Taylor

    ReplyDelete
  3. Sure Taylor, ordering details on the main page here:

    http://newviarailbook.blogspot.ca

    Email me with any further questions, and thanks for your interest in my book.

    Eric

    ReplyDelete